Previous folding utility carts typically relied on folding, hinged, or retracting panels and/or frames to initially achieve compactness. To lend the necessary rigidity to the cart for transporting or carrying items, the panels or frames were secured by pins, telescoping components or other means. Compactness of these carts was increased by the use of wheel assemblies that could be folded to lay adjacent to each other in the same plane to achieve a flatter configuration. One limitation in the design of these carts is that each increase in the diameter of the wheels results in an increase of the cart's width by double that amount. This reduces the compactness of such carts if large diameter wheels are used. Large diameter wheels, however, are desirable if the cart is to be used on rough, loose or rugged surfaces such as sand, dirt, grass or gravel.
Other known carts rely on offset wheel brackets that are contoured so that the wheel assemblies can partially lie on top of each other. The folded the wheels in this type of cart, however, must lie between the frame members of the cart. As a result, the overall width of the folded cart must be increased by the width or diameter of the frame members and the portion of each wheel assembly that does not contour to the wheel mounted in the adjacent wheel assembly.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a cart adapted for recreational areas such as beaches, trails, etc. that may be collapsed into a compact configuration for storage.